aspiring authors discussion

Hi Dagger!

hellohellohello what's upppp

School :( How bout you?

I'm supposed to be doing make-up work for school but I finished so I'm just vibing on GR and trying to find a good opening line for a new story idea

Ah, lucky. If I have time later I'll type up a synopsis of one of my novels and we can help each other with our writing.

Sounds great!

I have two story characters that I know I'm gonna have to kill because plot but I've gotten so emotionally attached to themmmmm :( sadness

Ughh I hate when that happens 😭

Part of my brain is going 'no don't kill them don't do it they're good characters they don't deserve a sudden ending like that' and part of my brain is going 'yesssss kill them it'll be fun and it's super important to the plot anyway and I'm craving the torture of my readers' so uh what do I dooooooooooooooooooo

TORTURE OF READERS COMES FIRST.
(view spoiler)[Besides, you could always kill some of them off and then it turns out that like one of them aren't actually dead. (hide spoiler)]
But yeah I totally get what you mean I'm so sad whenever I have to kill off characters that I'm actually attached to.

YESSSSSSSSSS
(view spoiler)[no that wouldn't work :( I just gotta kill 'em (hide spoiler)]
yeahhhhhhhhhhh it's sad
but I'll get over it
It'll be sad when I write it but fun when everyone else reads it

YES always torture of readers first. We can grieve and then cackle about it later.

hellohellohello

Helloooo
What have you been writing lately?

I've been trying to write but I haven't because I'm unmotivated and I can't togetherslap words properly.

I have a sorta idea if you want to try it?

It's a game I play with an IRL writer friend a lot, where we just go back and forth asking random questions about each other's stories or ideas.

YES that sounds fun let's play!

Sweet! Do you want to start or should I?

You can start!

okay!

What genre is your story?

Fantasy! I write a bunch of short stories and stuff like that and so sometimes those are murder mystery or something like that, but I almost always write fantasy.

Who is your favorite character in your story?

Fang, definitely. She's this badass space thief with a backstory that I may have built up a little too much because it all flows so naturally when it comes to her.

Are there any romances in your story?

OOH that sounds amazing. Yes, there are! I haven't written them out yet, and I really hate writing romances in general, but are probably going to be a few small ones.

What kind of world do you have in your story?

It's like a sci-fi space opera thing. Lots of different planets and species and stuff with a bunch of different cultures. A big chunk of the action takes place on ships and stuff like that.

What are your characters' personalities like?

That's awesome.

Jade is this badass cutthroat slightly cold and morally gray character, Cecelia is this fuck-it-all sassy and kinda rude character, and then my last character who is unnamed for now is this complex two-sided character who is usually nice but is always pushed aside because she's nice, if you know what I mean? But yeah she turns evil for some time :D

I know you already asked me this, but do you have any romances in your story?

Ooh damn I love them all

Yessssssss I do! The main romance is Fang and Clover, and then I have another character named Nico who I'm gonna put into an enemies-to-friends-to-lovers thing. I was originally gonna have him with a character named Olivia, but then I decided to make her Ace/Aro so yeah.

What are the religions of your world?

Yess lgbtq+ rep is good. Well, it starts off on a dystopian Earth but quickly transforms into a high fantasy. One of the fantasy realms heavily relies on the worshipping of gods, goddesses, etc. but on the dystopian Earth, all religion is banned (besides the utmost adoration of the leader).

Does your story have a magic system? If so, what is it?

Ooh~ It does! I'm working on it, though. There's a race known as Spellcasters, who are born with magical abilities and stuff, but very few people actually know that it's a race, because history stuff yeah. They just think it's like... random? But nah, it's genetics. Being a spellcaster is also actually illegal, and punishable by death. Fun. Yeah. It's kinda hard to explain without going into a giant rant about it, sorry XD.

What are your characters trying to accomplish in your story?

Ooh that's a super cool system. Basically saving the universe, but they all do it for personal reasons!

How many main characters does your story have?

4! Fang, Olivia, Nico, and Clover.

Who's the villain of your story and what are they trying to do?

The villain of my story is the president of dystopian Earth who's not actually human but she passes as one. She wants revenge on another realm (I don't know which species it's going to be for yet). She basically tried to challenge her mother for the throne before she was ready - everyone had warned her against it but she didn't listen. She lost, almost died because of it, and was cast out. She ran to Earth, built up a legion, and plans to take over the universe which is fun. But the only reason she survived was because of these other random unnamed people-or-actually-not-really-people who helped her on the condition that they would advise her throughout her quest for universe domination. So at this point, (she doesn't know it), she's being controlled by them.

What are your heroes trying to do in your story?

Whoaaaaa that's awesome!

Well-
Fang's main goal (towards the start of the story) is purely survival/avoiding the law, but as she's the most infamous thief in Xeliah - wearing a mask and going by the Silver Songbird - that can be really hard. Also, because of the way her suit is designed, people assume she's a guy. Nico's mom is in charge of one of Xeliak's seventeen planets, and someone tries to assassinate her and blames it on the Songbird, so he's trying to find him because he wants to keep his family safe. Clover is a spellcaster, and she's trying to hide her abilities, but she gets exposed and now she has to run for their life. Olivia doesn't come in until almost halfway through, but her primary motivation is going on an adventure because she's a book-lover and like that's what she really wants to do? So their paths all collide, and they end up trying to overthrow a corrupt and tyrannical government and start a rebellion. Yeah.

who's your favorite out of your characters?

Wow that sounds so cool!
My favorite is probably Jade, but I like all of them.

Do you have any favorite quotes/lines/exchanges from your story that you really like? (it could be anything - funny, inspiring, etc)

OOH YES GIMME A SEC

"Life is a game, and the universe gave me the cheat codes under the false impression that I would be using them like a responsible adult."

"You know, I've figured you out."
"Oh, yeah?" Fang looked up at her with a smirk, leaning back in her seat. "Enlighten me."
Scarlette crossed her arms. "You act all tough and cocky, but you're not. You aren't nearly as confident as you want everyone to think." She leaned forward, looking Fang dead in the eyes. "Because deep down under all that, you're nothing more than a broken child."
There was silence for a moment, and then Fang burst out laughing. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe I'm just an asshole?"

"So let me get this straight- You tried to attack a trained killer, who happened to be armed with hundreds of knives, with a book?"
Nico hesitated and grinned sheepishly. "...Knowledge is the best weapon?"
Fang was speechless. She made a few hand gestures, before slapping her palm against her forehead. "How the hell are you still alive?"



What about you? Any favorite quotes?

OMG I HAVE A CHARACTER NAMED SCARLETTE
AND I LOVE THOSE QUOTES
I'LL TRY TO FIND SOME TOMORROW

THANK YOU! I'm trying to find a better name for Scarlette because they're genderfluid and I want a more neutral name for them?

Ooh, I could help you find some neutral names if you'd like!

Anyways - I'm working on re-writing the 25 chapters I had already written down, but I'm only 3 chapters into my new draft so I don't have any remarkable quotes yet lol. Once I get farther into my second draft, I should have some.

What are your characters' personalities in your story?

AH SHIT I NEVER SAW THIS AHAHAHAHHA

these probably aren't the best descriptions but the characters honestly write themselves
Fang:
- acts all tough and confident but she's really just trying her best, man
- Tragic BackstoryTM
- headstrong as fuck because planning is for losers
- sarcasm and fatalistic humor
- has this sort of idea in her head that she doesn't actually matter
- loves fighting and needs very little reason to fuck someone's shit up
- an intelligent individual, but has one (1) braincell when it comes to common sense
- cannot sit still, always moving or fidgeting or doing something
- says fuck regularly
Clover:
- the impulse control of the gang and probably the only one with common sense
- worries about everyone because they refuse to worry about themselves
- very quiet and very concerned
- hates fighting but will beat your ass if you hurt the people she cares about
- zero self-confidence at the beginning, which is what her personal arc is about
- has not said fuck and refuses to say it
Nico:
- grew up very sheltered and is very innocent at the beginning
- doesn't know what he's doing but he's doing it anyway
- very smart in terms of books and stuff but cannot fight to save his life
- shy at first but very quickly turns to chaotic and energetic
- my least fleshed-out character who I need to work on
- Tom Holland's voice because fuck yeah
- occasionally says fuck
Olivia:
- smol genius
- seems like a cinnamon roll but will actually destroy you with SCIENCE
- very smart and very energetic
- talks at the speed of light
- all the others are very protective of her but she's probably the second most likely to kill someone aside from Fang
- very cute but very badass in some situations
- legally cannot say fuck

What do your characters look like?

OOPS IT'S BEEN LIKE A WEEK SORRY AGAIN I DIDN'T SEE THIS

HOLD ON

Jade:
- Straight black hair with the tips dyed dark green.
- Silvery-blue eyes that end up being able to change color, but that's a surprise for now. Almond shaped.
- Pale, porcelain skin.
- Kiiiind of lowkey looks like a goddess but the reason for that will be revealed later.

Cecelia:
- Very very very very very dark brown hair. Almost black, except for in the sun it has reddish highlights. Reasonably straight, but it has some curls occasionally, especially if she hasn't brushed it out.
- Dark blue eyes, that kind are kind of striking against her skin tone.
- Rich ebony skin.
- She doesn't care about her appearance AT ALL but there is again a mystery because it's fun making mysterious and tragic backstories

Tressa [placeholder name]:
- Wavy golden blondish hair.
- Sea green eyes.
- Tan skin.
- Overall she looks like a Normal Human Being which is a plot device.

Scarlette -
- Dark red hair.
- Almost black eyes, although they can change color too (hint hint)
- Olive skin (somewhere in the middle of dark and light)
- Also lowkey looks like a goddess

As you can see, I have no male characters down because I haven't found a good place for him to fit in yet. Although I do have one made, he was originally going to be the "villain"'s sister, but I decided that was unnecessary and he was a waste of space so now I think I'm going to have him be a main character and remake his whole vibe.

ƑìɾҽƒӀվ wrote: "AH SHIT I NEVER SAW THIS AHAHAHAHHA

these probably aren't the best descriptions but the characters honestly write themselves
Fang:
- acts all tough and confident but she's really just trying her ..."

I love how much they say "fuck" is a personality trait ahahahaha
Hmmm
Do your characters travel together on some sort of adventure? If so, what's your favorite destination/setting they go to? (this is kind of hard, it can just be a description of a setting or something that you want to include in your story I guess!)

Ayla wrote: "Jade:
- Straight black hair with the tips dyed dark green.
- Silvery-blue eyes that end up being able to change color, but that's a surprise for now. Almond shaped.
- Pale, porcelain skin.
- Kiiiin..."

i
love
themmmm
is jade actually a goddess or nah

Ayla wrote: "ƑìɾҽƒӀվ wrote: "AH SHIT I NEVER SAW THIS AHAHAHAHHA

these probably aren't the best descriptions but the characters honestly write themselves
Fang:
- acts all tough and confident but she's really ..."

Thanketh-
Yes! They do! I don't really have much of a plot, just characters and a world to explore and a connect the dot sheet of random scenes, but they are going to go on a journey!
So Fang has a bunch of friends in variously high and low places, because she's Fang, and one of them happens to be a very famous musician named Ven, and they go to him and he's Clover's mentor in spellcasting because surprise he's also secretly a spellcaster but HE'S NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW because we're focusing on the theater where he usually does live performances
Oh boy do I have a lot to say about the Falcon Theater.
First of all, it's built almost like a sports arena. The whole thing is a giant circle, with seats in rings along the walls on each side, and a circular stage in the center. It's pretty cool, there's a ton of special effects stuff (also random fact that you'll probably never need to use but Ven isn't the only musician who performs there - as a matter of fact, once a year there's a HUGE event where hundreds of artists compete in a tournament and try to make it to the top and I could go on but I won't because I need to focus).
However, the main stage isn't the cool part.
There's a passage somewhere in the stands that leads to underneath the theater. That's like the backstage part. There are food tables, changing rooms, etc., pretty standard, but then *gasp* there's another door. And this door leads to three different things.
1) A planning room, including a full map of almost everywhere in Xeliah because Ven (who owns the theater) is an important figure of the rebellion and helps plan stuff
2) A locked room that's full of just random trinkets and stuff (which is where he teaches Clover how to use her spellcasting)
3) A hidden tunnel behind a painting in the locked room that leads to the surface somewhere else on the planet, in case of emergencies

and there's a bunch of other stuff but that's all I have planned out so far

Which characters are going to be shipped with who?

OOOOOOH THOSE ALL SOUND AMAZING

and um yes she is a goddess to some degree but it's complicated
same with Scarlette

ƑìɾҽƒӀվ wrote: "Which characters are going to be shipped with who?"

Jade and Cecelia definitely, an enemies-to-lovers I can easily see happening. Or at least, earlier in the story.
Maybe Scarlette and Kace too, because there's so much banter between them.
And Amarissa (lmao I named my rp character after a character in my book) probably wouldn't be shipped with anyone in the beginning, same with Tressa (placeholder name).

Hmm okay, what's your favorite ship in your story and why?

OOOOOOOOOOH

hMMMMMMMMMMm

well I have Fang and Clover, they're fuckin awesome together (Clover's the sensible oh-god-please-don't-die one and Fang is the reckless one who somehow gets into all sorts of trouble and there's also just a ~connection~ and I'm very excited for it)

and I also have Nico and Scarlette yeah they do have the same name lmao sorry (Scarlette's a very scary angery child but they're soft for Nico and it's gonna be super fluffy and ahhhhhhhhhhhh)

And I don't know which one is my favorite but um
Yeah